Lando Norris will start the F1 Azerbaijan GP in P7 after a red-flag-filled qualifying session.
Today’s qualifying session was difficult for the whole grid, with 6 red flags being shown across the three sessions. This disruption made it impossible for the drivers to get consistent running. It also meant that it all came down to the final run of Q3.
Norris went out first, hoping to get ahead of any more qualifying chaos. His championship rival and fellow teammate, Oscar Piastri, had crashed out, so there was a chance for him to make ground in the championship fight.
However, his run began just as the rain started to spit, and he was unable to get a clean lap in. It resulted in a scruffy attempt where he clipped the wall at Turn 15 on used tyres. After the 7 other remaining drivers had completed their laps, Norris qualified in P7 for the Azerbaijan GP.
Reflecting on qualifying
The Azerbaijan GP has been full of ups and downs for the McLaren driver. He struggled during FP2, but topped the timings in FP3. And Norris continued to look good during Q1 and Q2. However, during the final qualifying session, things started to slip away from him. When asked if he feels today was a wasted opportunity, the Brit denied it, saying, “I still did everything I could.
“The tricky conditions, I went out first and it was just the wrong decision to make in the end. If everyone got a yellow [flag] behind because someone else went off behind me you wouldn’t be asking me this question.
“Sometimes it goes your way around here, sometimes it doesn’t. I think it would have been better if it wasn’t spitting. It just started to spit again before the final run. And then going out first is just the incorrect thing. So, it’s something we’ll learn from.
“But no, the opportunity is there every single weekend to be on pole. I try and do that every weekend, and today I struggled more because of not making the best decision. But that’s a hindsight thing, not an incorrect one at the time.”
A windy session
Norris’s final lap was far from the cleanest qualifying one he has put in. Between the interrupted session and tricky conditions, it made it extremely difficult to execute the perfect final lap.
“I wish everyone could understand how difficult it was with the wind. I would say that half the crashes you saw today were probably because of the wind.
“Not all, some of them were just breaking too late and then trying to go to something that’s not there. But Turn 4, where I think Colapinto went off, and a lot of people locked up. It feels like one of the worst corners I’ve ever driven in my life.
“The tailwind’s 50 kph or something. And it might be that the next laps 10 [kph], and you feel like, oh, I can go a bit quicker. You go quicker on the next lap, and you’re in the wall.
“It’s very difficult. That’s why you want a car that’s consistent and forgiving. And maybe it seemed like we just struggled a little bit with that this weekend or today.”
Eyes on the podium
Norris will start the race tomorrow near the middle of the grid. Despite this, he is hopeful that he still has a chance at scoring a podium. Some of this confidence may come from his performance last year, where he turned a P15 start into a P4 finish.
“I think we won’t have the pace to beat Max. I think he’s going to be fast. He’s been quick all weekend. They could easily win in Monza, they could easily win here this weekend.
“I’m not sure about the win, but we’re trying to get on the podium. There’s a good amount of cars ahead that are probably a little out of position.
“But the lap from Carlos was still pretty good, and he’s up there. It’s not an easy track to overtake on. Charles was a lot quicker than Oscar last year, yet Oscar still won. Not an easy track to overtake on. There are plenty of opportunities. So hopefully they can come my way.
“I’ll just go forward and try to overtake as many as I can.”
